Bayanihan

Australia and the Philippines’ strong partnership is underpinned by 50 years of development cooperation. Australia’s development program in the Philippines is one of our largest, with Australian assistance to the Philippines reaching almost PHP 3 billion (AUD80 million) for 2020-2021. Our development partnership is focused on achieving a more prosperous, stable and resilient Philippines.

For more than 30 years, we have supported the delivery of quality basic education to improve the lives of Filipino children. This includes ongoing support for teacher education and professional development, curriculum enhancement and development of learning and teaching materials.

Australia is helping to build more effective and accountable institutions to deliver better outcomes for the Filipino people. Through our partnerships with national and local government leaders, academic institutions and civil society organisations, Australia also provides policy advice to the Philippine Government on issues that support the social and economic development of the Philippines.

For the past decade, Australia has actively supported the development of infrastructure necessary to propel the Philippine economy higher. In collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, the Canadian government, and the Philippine Public Private Partnership Center, Australia has contributed to the development of tenders and the competitive procurement processes for major transport and social infrastructure public-private partnership projects that are then built by the private sector.

Australia has been a strong supporter of peace and development in Mindanao for over 20 years, working with the Philippine Government, local governments, multilateral and non-governmental organisations to build resilience in communities affected by conflict.

Australia’s partnership with the Philippines on training and education dates back to the 1950s. Since then, the Australian Government has provided scholarship opportunities to high-achieving Filipinos to study at Australian universities.

The New Colombo Plan brings Australian students to study in countries like the Philippines to strengthen the educational and people-to-people ties between Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.